Shappi Khorsandi’s latest show, Because I'm Shappi, covers all bases, from frivolous to frank. There’s smutty material on porn, cuddly humour about single parenthood and, most distinctively, potent anecdotes about her father, an Iranian satirist living in exile.
It starts with the affable storyteller reflecting on how easy friendships were as a child: “Do you like jumping? I like jumping.” On such simple premises lifelong bonds are formed. Though I wonder if her friends shared the penchant for pornography she developed when pregnant. The crowd was quieter here. Maybe her Radio 4 fans were in last night.
Elsewhere laughs flowed easily as Khorsandi gushed through tales of awkward post-split dating, west London snobbery and a frightful faux pas in hospital. Things gathered pace when her engaging, eccentric father entered the narrative and she recalled how when he went to collect her people assumed he was a cabbie.
Best by far was the section towards the end when she talked about telling her dad she had been trolled on Twitter. He put it into perspective by comparing it to the real messages of hate that led him to leave Iran. Suddenly nasty tweets do not seem so bad.
This review first appeared in the Evening Standard here. Shappi Khorsandi is at the Soho Theatre until November 29. Tickets here.
Tags:
